Members of the City of Atlantic’s Planning and Zoning Commission gathered Tuesday evening at City Hall, and expressed their displeasure with the way Poet Bio-refining, LLC began construction of a ethanol transfer station near the downtown area. When finished, the station will allow semi tanker trucks full of ethanol to transfer their loads derived from a processing facility in Coon Rapids, into railroad cars.

Zoning Administrator John Lund said the City wasn’t notified about the company’s intentions until well after work had begun on the project. Word about the project came on or about August 22^nd, and it was from a citizen, not from officials with Poet.

When City officials met with representatives from Poet last week, they were left with more questions than answers, and the answers themselves conflicted with what the Iowa DNR was told would be in-place at the site, located just north of the Atlantic Depot/Chamber of Commerce, on north Chestnut Street. Lund said City Attorney says the P&Z has no authority to do anything about the situation.

Lund said Dave Wierstein told Lund he can’t force Poet to obtain a building permit. Lund said it should have been a P&Z issue “from the get go.” He says if Poet had come to the City first, as a professional courtesy, the City might have been more supportive of the plan, but that didn’t happen.

Among the Commissioners expressing their dismay with the way Poet went about the project, was Roger Herring, who said Poet displayed a “Blatant disregard for the City of Atlantic,” in building a facility in “The very heart and center” of the information and downtown district. Herring said he’s not against Poet and what there business is, but the manner of how they went about constituted a blatant disregard for the City and its citizens, and it shouldn’t work that way.

John Lund says there will be a follow-up report during next week’s City Council meeting. Mayor Dave Jones, who along with Councilman Steve Livengood and Shawn Shouse, were in attendance at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Tuesday, said the City isn’t done exploring its options on how to best deal with the situation. The Commission Tuesday passed a Resolution for the record, expressing their frustration at the lack of communication Poet had with the City, that the matter was not brought before them in a timely manner, that an engineering study was not conducted about the location and possible risks, and that the Commission was not aware of the project before construction began.

In other business, the Commission tabled until its meeting in October, discussion pertaining to multiple families occupying Single-family properties. The issue was brought to the Commission’s attention after a citizen expressed her concerns about numerous, extended family members staying in a home in Atlantic, and how that affects property values, along with other, related concerns.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Vandalism and a fire at a Council Bluffs house are being investigated as a hate crime. Firefighters were sent to the home about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, and they put out flames that had engulfed a bedroom there. No injuries were reported.

Kevin Durham and Shelly Owens were gone and their children were at school when the fire occurred. The couple say the house had been vandalized and racial slurs had been spray-painted several times on the walls. Durham is black; Owens is white.

Council Bluffs police Sgt. David Dawson confirmed that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Voters across the State went to the polls Tuesday (9/10/13) to cast their ballots in the 2013 School Board elections. Among the area contested races:

In Cass County, incumbents Kristy Pellett and Josh McLaren were re-elected to the school board in the Atlantic Community School District. Both beat out challenger Bob Reilly for the two At Large open seats on the Board. In the Griswold District, incumbents Steve Baier and Robert Peterson were re-elected to the school board. The men defeated Denise Bridges for the two open At Large seats on the Griswold School Board. Also in Cass County, both Iowa Western Community College levy measures were overwhelmingly approved by the voters.

In Adair County,  Megan Kading, Jeff Leonard and Mark Williams were elected to the At Large seats on the Adair-Casey school board. The three won the three open At Large seats in a four way race with Tobin Muller.

In Guthrie County, Deb Douglass defeated two other challengers for the single, open seat in District 2 of the Panorama School District, and Jon Stezel beat challenger Shari Clark in District 4. The winner of the Coon Rapids-Bayard District 1 school board seat was Brenda Schlatter, who beat challenger Kelly Pevestorf 227-to 61. Chad Leighty had a somewhat closer win over challenger Steve Dentlinger in CR-B District 4, 183-to 108.

In Montgomery County, there were no contested races, but voters in the Stanton School District did pass Proposition A by 113 to 6.

In Pottawattamie County, Steve Paul Kock won a two-way race for an At Large seat on the AHST school board, and Lindsay Bentley won a three-way race for a District 5 seat in the Riverside School District. And, in the Walnut School District, Shane Brockhoff and Tom Carroll won a four-way race for two At Large seats on the Walnut School Board.

In Shelby County, the Harlan Community School Board will see no changes after elections Tuesday night. In District 2, Amy Rueschenberg defeated Robert Dickinson 252 to 12 in the only contested race. The Public Measure for the Revenue Purpose Statement for the Harlan Community School District passed 228 yes to 21 no. Sam Hansen and Eric Ramsey won a race against three other contenders for two open At Large seats on the IKM-Manning School Board.

You can see the full results on the News page on our website, at www.kjan.com. Just scroll down and look for the “Sept. 10^th 2013 School Board election results.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – An Ohio man has been arrested in Omaha after a fatal traffic accident.    Omaha police say 30-year-old Evan Shiplett, of Zanesville, Ohio, was arrested on Tuesday evening after he was released from a hospital. He is being held on one count of vehicular homicide.

Police say Shiplett was driving fast when his pickup went out of control and rolled as it left Interstate 480 in eastern Omaha on Friday evening. One of his passengers, 19-year-old Matthew Doty, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed. Another passenger, 18-year-old Jacob Levene, of Neola, Iowa, left the scene but was later taken to a hospital.

Jail records say Shiplett remained in custody on Wednesday morning.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press….

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Flags will be flying at half-staff to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Gov. Terry Branstad ordered all the flags at state-run buildings to be lowered Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The governor is encouraging businesses and schools to do the same as a sign of respect for the thousands of people killed in the attacks.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — More than $3.2 million in federal money has been approved for airport runway improvements in Davenport and Ankeny. Sen. Tom Harkin says the Federal Aviation Administration will give $1.8 million to the Davenport Municipal Airport to pay for reconstruction of a deteriorating runway. The FAA also will give nearly $1.4 million to the Ankeny Regional Airport to pay for the relocation of a road that will allow full use of a runway.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sportscaster Bob Costas will headline the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s annual dinner in January. The economic development organization says it strives to attract nationally recognized figures for its annual event. The dinner is the central Iowa business community’s celebration of the past year’s economic and community development successes.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A 59-year-old Waterloo man is charged in connection with a head-on crash in northeast Iowa that killed a Minnesota woman. The Bremer County Sheriff’s Office says Verle Dean Wygle is charged with homicide by vehicle. The sheriff’s office says Wygle was northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 218 on July 24 when his pickup truck crashed into the woman’s van. Court records do not list an attorney.

This page will be updated as results become available

*Final results, unofficial until canvassed

(I= Incumbent) (**=Winner in a contested race)

Cass County

CAM School District

North District – Chuck Kinzie (I)          87*

South District – Gary Dinkla (I)            82*

At Large District – Nick Kauffman (I) 85*

Atlantic School District

At Large – (2)

Kristy Pellett (I)          266*

Josh E. McLaren (I)    190*

Bob Reilly                       151

Griswold School District

District #3 – Scott C. Peterson (I)    59*

District #4 – Thomas Jay Moore (I)  81*

At Large (2)

Steve Baier (I)   168*

Denise L. Bridges   121

Robert Peterson (I)  206*

IWCC Director District #4 – Scott D. Robinson  547*

Public Measure B – (IWCC 20.25-cent/$1,000 assessed valuation levy) Yes- 483*   No 182

Public Measure C – (IWCC 6-cent/$1,000 assessed valuation levy) Yes 491*   No 157

Audubon County

-Audubon (vote for two)

Sarah Asmus                77*

Becky Jones                 82*

-Exira (vote for two)

Thomas M Benton        37*

Bart Peppers                42*

Montgomery County

-Villisca (vote for two)

Leland D. Shipley     70*

Todd Drake                 70*

-Stanton (vote for three)

Mark Lindgren     71*

Brian Bates             87*

Jeff Sorensen         90*

Prop. A – Yes: 113     No: 6

-Red Oak (vote for three)

Kathy M. Walker     97*

Warren C. Hayes     96*

Paul M. Griffen        94*

Adair County

-Adair-Casey

At Large (vote for three)

Megan Kading     147*

Jeff Leonard         93*

Tobin Muller        79

Mark A. Williams  126*

-Nodaway Valley

At Large (vote for two)

James Campbell     79*

Tyson Sickles          112*

Director District 1

Roger Jensen           119*

-Orient Macksburg

At Large

Stephanie Mikkelsen   41*

Director District 1

Wendi Lynn Eslinger     49*

-DMACC

Director District 3

Jim Knott      115*

-SWCC

Director District 1

Dennis Davis   171*

Adams County

-Corning

District 1

Howard Anderson    89*

District 4

Wendi Boswell           95*

District 5

Scott A. Shuey          92*

District 2 (to fill vacancy)

Gwen Larsen              89*

-Prescott

At Large (vote for three)

Doug Birt                    26*

Marnie Cline             26*

Randy Cooper          27*

-SWCC

District 1

Dennis Davis             23*

Shelby County

-Harlan

Director District 1

Alan Hazelton      235*

Director District 2 (vote for one)

Robert Dickinson          12

Amy Rueschenberg      252*

Director District 3

Lonnie Muxfeldt            238*

Director District 4

Angie Monson                238*

-IKM-Manning

Director District 1B

Amy Ferneding            905*

Director District 2B

Jim Thraen                   958

Director District At Large (vote for two)

Sam Hansen                 746*

Jeff Hornback                 66

Dennis Kasparbauer   679

Zachery J. Meiners     482

Eric Ramsey                 709*

-Elk Horn Kimballton

Director District At Large (vote for three)

Tamie Fahn                   42

Stacie Larsen                 41

Kevin L. Petersen          45

-IWCC

Director District 9

Randy Pash                   468

-DMACC

Director District 3

Jim Knott                     405

Pottawattamie County

-AHST

District 1

Bernadette Hatch     235*

District 3

Amber Carcel     223*

District 5

Robb A. Jacobsen     253*

At Large (vote for one)

Steven Paul Kock           174*

Thomas J. Rzemyk        115

-Riverside

District 1

Phillip L. Reed                415*

District 5 (vote for one)

Lindsay Bentley             303*

Calvin Grobe                   28

Charles Pleak                  159

District 6

Murray Fenn                   399

-Walnut

At Large (vote for two)

Shane R. Brockhoff      45*

Tom Carroll                     80*

Terri Naegele                  39

Jason Wood                     33

Guthrie County

-Guthrie Center (vote for two)

Melia Vanmeter       91

Wes Policky              75

-Panorama

District 1

Greg Irving              20

District 2 (vote for one)

Deb Douglass          57*

Mindy L. Fear        26

Kent Muyskens     18

District 4 (vote for one)

Shari Clark             26

Jon Stetzel              51*

-Coon Rapids-Bayard

District 1 (to fill vacancy) (vote for one)

Kelly Pevestorf         66

Brenda Schlaatter    227*

District 3 (to fill vacancy)

Jason Rosenbeck      255

District 4 (vote for one)

Steve Dentlinger      108

Chad Leighty            183*

District 6

Pat McAlister           247

District At Large

Joel Davis                 215

The Red Oak Police Department reports two women were arrested Tuesday evening. 34-year old Brandi Lynn Beckett, and 35-year old Janet Marie Scuturio, both of Red Oak, were taken into custody at around 5:50-p.m. in the 500 block of North 6th Street, on Breach of Peace charges. The women were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond, each.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County said a Corning woman was arrested Tuesday evening on a warrant out of Omaha for Failure to Appear. Jessica Goodvin was taken into custody at around 5:35-p.m., after deputies in Adams County saw an abandoned vehicle sitting at the Gun Club at Lake Binder. A check of the vehicle’s registration came back to Goodvin, who also had a warrant for failure to appear in court on a felony shoplifting case. Goodvin was brought to the Adams County Jail and held pending extradition to Nebraska.